The Challenges of Writing a Sci-Fi Romance

Since I’m celebrating the release of my new book My Cyborg Savior, I figured I’d tell you some of the problems I had writing sci-fi romance versus what I usually write, paranormal romance.

Naming things. Things like made up inventions. It’s hard enough imaging technology that might be invented, but I’m a horrible namer and I also had to name planets and cities. Naming planets and cities literally is just me sticking syllables together until something sounds good. It’s much easier to work in the realm of modern paranormal where I can just pick a city that already exists and every piece of technology is already conveniently named.

Describing computer-like things going on in someone’s brain. Seriously, how do you describe the feeling of an electric fence you hacked coming back online? You know, unless you’re touching it. That I could describe! But when it’s all being detected by the computer in your brain? That’s a little harder.

Naming the book. And it comes back to being bad at naming things. With most of my books I come up with a title about half way through. Something logical, catchy, and fairly unique just pops up. But for My Cyborg Savior I got all the way to the submitting stage and went “Oh crap, I still need a title. It can’t go anywhere without one.” And then it took brainstorming with friends to narrow it down the My Cyborg Savior.

I had to come up with a whole new world. I’ve been working in my paranormal world since I was like eleven. So I know all the rules. I know all the characters. I know stuff the characters don’t know! With a new series I don’t know anyone yet. It’s like going to a new school. I don’t know them, and they don’t know me so they’re not inclined to share their stories. I’m also just scratching the surface on ONE of the alien cultures that will be in the books. Before that it’s just been humans.

You have to pay attention to the science behind things. There are a lot of theories to get wrong. And for some of it you just have to assume that eventually science will find a way to do the crazy crap you described in chapter twelve.

So what was similar to writing paranormal? Well, both are made up. That’s why I don’t know how historical romance authors do it. I love me some historical romance novels, but there are so many facts to get wrong! I think it would drive me crazy because I would want to know absolutely every aspect of life for whatever time period I was writing about. Then my head would explode and I’d never start the book. But with paranormal and sci-fi it’s my own little world with its own little history that I can’t get wrong.

You have to describe some interesting things. Transforming from a man into a wolf is also a doozy to describe.

So, those are just a few similarities and differences about what went into writing My Cyborg Savior. I hope you enjoy the book.

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